Wildflower Wednesday: Chasmanthium latifolium, A Year Round Beauty

I love native grasses and there aren't nearly enough in my garden. Shallow soil and shady conditions limit them at Clay and Limestone, but, Chasmanthium latifolium (River Oats) is deliriously happy here and it makes a gorgeous big impression....And I do mean a big impression.

I think it's important to tell the truth about plants I showcase and the truth is that while I love River Oats I need to issue a word of caution--This grass spreads through rhizomes and can be aggressive. It will also reseed itself. In fact it has seeded itself vigorously around my sunnier border and taken over spots once inhabited by other sweet native wildflowers! I don't blame the plant, that's its nature. I hold myself completely responsible that it has run roughshod over other plants.  

The first few years in the garden

When I was young and eager to have a wildlife friendly garden I chose River Oats because it had year round beauty and good wildlife value. It was easy to grow and tolerant of many different light and soil conditions. I loved that it was a larval host plant for butterflies as well as a food source for small mammals and birds. Later on I learned that it provided shelter for small mammals and was an important plant for lightening bugs.*

It was in the ground and well established when a gardening friend visited and said this to me when she noticed the large clump of river oats: "Oh my, why did you plant that?"  She knew what many of us learn from experience, that river oats can be a bit thuggish in some gardens. That's what I found out...Each and everyone of those spikelets can make a new plant in moist soil. It can in dry soil, too!  

But let's talk about its wonderful characteristics!  

River oats is a cool season clumping grass that emerges in spring before most native grasses. The bright green arching bamboo like foliage is so welcome after a brown winter.

April green leaves with Phlox pilosa

It's especially lovely in early spring as it mingles with early spring wildflowers.

  

Leander Bruce photo

 The flat nodding green seed heads that resemble oats emerge with the foliage. The spike like flower heads sway gently in the slightest breeze making quite a statement in a spring garden.

It always strikes me as too soon when the flowers ripen into seeds, but that's to be expected with cool season grasses. Most cool season grasses are bunch grasses that grow actively in cool weather and set seed by early summer. 

And just look how lovely the yellow gold seedheads look with Physostegia virginiana. How ironic or maybe appropriate that two of the most disobedient plants in my garden dance so well together!

 

Here are two of my favorite fall photos from the archives.

It seeded itself among the witch hazels, Hydrangea arborescens and a long gone Japanese Maple tree. Below it's mixing well with a fall blooming aster.

a lovely couple 

 Full on winter finds them still beautiful.

Yellowing up on its way to bronze winter color

Since I garden for wildlife, I don't clean up my garden in winter. This means that I let the River oats and the stems of wildflowers stand all winter. This allows insects that over winter in wildflower stems a safe haven and food for birds who forage the seed heads. River oats foliage insulates and protects the plant, adds winter interest and its thick, clumping habit offers essential cover and nesting materials for birds and small mammals.

 If you're really lucky you get to see them in the snow. 

wind pollinated

 Chasmanthium latifolium has more pluses than minuses, but, plant it only if you don't mind a plant that vigorously reseeds or if you have a space in your garden where it can make its big statement! Long time readers know I am a huge fan of colonizing, rough and tumble, take care of themselves native plants and this is definitely one of them.

 I've seen it growing in rich woodlands adjacent to cedar glades where it it co-mingles with Hypericum frondosum, Rhus aromatica and sedges.  It can also be found naturally growing in rich woodlands and  stream beds slopes. It's perfect for stabilizing a stream bank or a slope that's eroding. If you've ever tried struggled to dig a clump to divide or transplant you know that its fibrous and deep root system would hold back the steepest slope!

I will be doing some editing this spring and summer! Wish me luck!xoxogail

 

 

The Particulars

Common Name: Indian Wood Oats, Inland Sea Oats, Northern Sea Oats, River Oats, Wild Oats, Wood-oat 

Type: Ornamental grass 

Family: Poaceae 

Native Range: Eastern United States, northern Mexico 

Zone: 3 to 8 

Height: 2.00 to 5.00 feet 

Spread: 1.00 to 2.50 feet 

Bloom Time: August to September 

Bloom Description: Green 

Sun: Full sun to part shade. Very happy in almost full shade.

Water: Medium to wet 

Maintenance: Low, if planted in the right place!

Suggested Use: Use in naturalized areas, along streams or edges of water gardens. Watch its placement especially in smaller gardens as may spread aggressively by rhizomes and seeds. 

Comments: Showy flowers look like oats. A good cut flower in arrangements. Great winter interest. Highly resistant to deer.

Wildlife value: Larval host plant for Northern Pearly-Eye (Lethe anthedon) caterpillars.  Also a larval host plant to several skipper butterflies. Small mammals and birds are attracted to the seeds. Shelter to small mammals in winter.

*Special note: River oats  are an excellent native grass for creating a firefly-friendly habitat, providing necessary shade, moisture retention, and structural support for mating. These ornamental grasses offer protective cover for larvae and resting spots for adult fireflies, particularly in shady or riparian areas.

 

 

 Welcome to Clay and Limestone's Wildflower Wednesday celebration. On the fourth Wednesday of each month I share information about wildflowers and other native plants. Please join in if you like. You can write a blog post or share your favorite wildflower on social media. Remember, it doesn't matter if they are in bloom or not, and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. It's all about celebrating wildflowers.

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener, Tennessee Naturalist and nature writer in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Native rye, Oh you beautiful thug!

Perhaps thug is too strong a word for this lovely grass, after all, it's not too difficult to transplant.

I really do like this grass. It has an interesting loose structure which fits nicely into a jam packed garden like mine.

But, there's the rub! When do you pull it out?

Certainly not once those lovely bottle brush seedheads begin to brown.
I

You wouldn't dare cut them down when the bristly seedheads look like this when backlit against the purple chairs.

Each of these will germinate!

You'll want to enjoy this beauty as long as you can, but still have time to collect seeds.

shade and drought tolerant

It's time for me to decide where I'd like a big stand instead of letting nature have her way...again!

It's a see through plant

It's August and the seedheads are a lovely beige and ripe for saving.

The Bottle brush seedhead is so good looking I often wait too long and the seeds gets dispersed by a late summer thunderstorm. They blow all over the place and germinate where ever they fall. When they show up in every container and in the middle of all the shrubs you might think it's a thug. 

Did I tell you we had a late summer thunderstorm the other day?

Oh you beautiful thug, I can't wait to see where you show up next spring!
xoxogail

PS


Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission. 

Wildflower Wednesday: Spiderwort

I love my garden in the early morning. Once the sun has made it past the trees, it begins to spot light the shadier garden nooks.

Spiderworts look their best in that cool morning sun. The sun light makes those feathery violet hairs glow. Later in the day they're washed out by the hot, bright light, but that is the case for many delicate flowers.

Spiderwort is ephemeral - its flowers stay open only one day.

Tradescantia  virginiana like all members of the dayflower/Commelinaceae family is ephemeral - its flowers stay open only one day (half day if sited in full sun), but, it continues blooming for a long time. The leaves are strappy, with pointed tips. Each has a channel (which looks like the perfect place to fold it) and is bright green with a dark green midvein and visible parallel veins.

Cultivars are now offered with, blue-green, chartreuse, or yellow leaves. I love the species plants and usually prefer them to cultivars, but, in this case, I say, go ahead and add whatever spiderwort cultivars you want to your garden. They all attract pollinators and for me, that's important...but, so is beauty! Just take a look a 'Kate' in the photo below. She's a beauty in chartreuse leaves and those purple flower pops against them.

'Kate' a cultivar same flowers prettier leaves

In my garden, spiderwort's arching stems are usually 2 to 3 foot tall and the clumps are never wider than 2 feet. The plant hasn't spread aggressively beyond their original plantings, but then C and L doesn't have rich, moist soil, which would encourage it to misbehave. They are known to spread by seed and if any seeds sprout where you don't want them,  they're best dug out when young, before a thick, fibrous root can develop in the middle of one of your prize ornamental plants.

There seem to be two explanations of the origin of the common name: either from the sticky secretion exuded from cut or broken stems, which hardens into web-like threads or from from the angular placements of its leaves, which suggests a sitting spider. The sitting spider is a new one to me, but certainly got me on my hands and knees checking out the flowers.

It's a fabulous garden worthy plant, but it is not without its detractors!

striking purplish blue flowers with three petals, 6 yellow stamens and the most exquisite spidery violet hairs.

Perhaps it those detractors and their negative reviews of spiderwort that keep it from being in more wildflower gardens. I have often been asked to recommend plants for native/wildflower gardens and when I suggest Spiderwort, I inevitably hear, a list of negative statements. "It's too weedy." It's unruly. "It's aggressive." "It's too floppy and messy."

It can be unruly in the right circumstances and once the big bloom period passes, it is a whole lot of plant and no flower!

In my eyes it's still a garden worthy plant. I garden for wildlife and this plant always has bumbles and smaller critters visiting it. I appreciate the delicate flowers in vibrant purples, blues, pinks and even white. They are delightful in a shady garden. When the narrow, strap like leaves start to look ratty, and they do by July, I cut them back. I am rewarded with fresh growth and occasionally more blooms. Cutting back spiderwort will also curb rampant reseeding.

a white flower  from several years ago with a visiting hoverfly

Spiderworts might not belong in a formal garden, but, they are certainly at their best in a woodland or cottage garden where they mingle nicely with native geraniums, Carex, Heucheras and foamflowers. I like to let them duke it out with colonizing plants like River oats and false dragonhead. Btw, False dragonhead is winning.

Geranium maculatum 'Espresso' with 'Kate'

Spiderworts are pollinated by bumbles and that makes me really happy. Beautiful and unique flowers that are not terribly temperamental about soil; that come in a kaleidoscopic palette of sumptuous colors; bushy plant that helps fill bare areas and mixes well in layered plantings; and, easy care, make this plant attractive to me.

If you can deal with a thuggish, tall, strappy, grass like plant when out of bloom; that is more plant than blooms, and; one that declines in the heat of summer; then, this is a plant for you. If you don't want to plant it in the garden, why not plant it in a container. You can move it out of the way when it stops blooming, cut the floppy stems back and wait to bring it back out when the cooler fall weather brings on the second flush of blooms.

I hope I've made a good case for Tradescantia virginiana! I want to be honest and not mislead you! Let me know what your experiences have been.

Thanks,
gailxoxo

The particulars

Tradescantia virginiana aka Spiderwort
Type: Perennial
Size: Usually around 2 feet tall, may get taller
Leaf: Green, blue green. Cultivars offer more color including lime green.
Bloom Color: Blue, purple, pinks and white. Cultivars may cross and create a lovely palette of colors
Bloom Time: March through June. May rebloom in fall.
Native Distribution: A Central basin native plant. Eastern half of the US and Canada. W. CT to WI, s. to GA, TN & e. MO 
Native Habitat: Meadows; open woods; limestone outcrops
Water Use: Low when established, prefers moist soil
Light Requirement: Sun, Part Shade, Shade
Soil  Description: Very adaptable plant prefers humus-rich soil, but will grow in a wide range of soils: moist/dry, clay/sand, acid/alkaline.
Wildlife: Attracts bees. Pollinated by bumblebees.  Butterfly nectar source.
Comments: Juglones tolerant. POISONOUS PARTS: Leaves. A good ornamental in the garden. Attractive seasonal color for a shady or sunny area. Plant looks good with Heucheras, foam flowers and other native plants. Probably best in naturalistic plantings, woodland and shady gardens. To keep plants looking healthy, cut them back in late summer (or when they appear to stop blooming). Spiderwort spreads easily, but if kept under control, it can be used as a border plant. It is striking in mass when in bloom.



Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday and thank you for stopping by to see Tradescantia virginiana, a sweet wildflower that I think has gotten a bad rap! Thanks also, for joining in and if you are new to Wildflower Wednesday, it's about sharing and celebrating wildflowers from all over this great big, beautiful world. Join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Remember, it doesn't matter if your wildflower is in bloom or not and, it doesn't matter if we all share the same plants. Please leave a comment when you add your url to Mr Linky.



Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wildflower Wednesday: Chasmanthium latifolium (River Oats)

There aren't nearly enough grasses in my garden. Shallow soil and a shady conditions limit them at Clay and Limestone, but, one that is quite happy here and makes a gorgeous big impression is Chasmanthium latifolium (River Oats).

 clump-forming, upright

I think it's important to tell the truth about plants I showcase and the truth is that I love this one.

Yellowing up on its way to bronze winter color

I planted it for it's year round beauty.

 This cool season clumping grass is a bright green in early spring, growing quickly to about 2 foot tall and sending up arching stems. A bit later, there are attractive flat, drooping seed heads that hang in terminal clusters on thread-like pedicils on arching stems.

As river oats age they begin to yellow (see above June 2016)  and by late summer or early fall the foliage and spikelets have turned a nice bright yellow. By mid winter they're a gorgeous bronze.

I leave them stand all winter where they continue to dance in the breeze, stand up beautifully in the snow and provide shelter for small mammals and birds.

the ex-asters are good companions

Way back when Clay and Limestone was just becoming a garden, a more experienced gardening friend exclaimed, "Oh my, why did you plant that?" when she spied a large clump of river oats. She knew what many of us learn from experience, that river oats can be a bit thuggish in some gardens. Each and everyone of those spikelets can make a new plant in moist soil. It can in dry soil, too!

April green leaves with Phlox pilosa

I love it anyway! But, then, I am a huge fan of colonizing, rough and tumble, take care of themselves native plants. This one has more pluses than minuses, but, plant it only if you don't mind a plant that vigorously reseeds.

wind pollinated

I've seen it growing in rich woodlands adjacent to cedar glades where it it comingles with Hypericum frondosum, Rhus aromatica and sedges.  It can also be found naturally growing in rich woodlands and  stream beds slopes. It's perfect for stabilizing a stream bank or a slope that's eroding. If you've ever tried struggled to dig a clump to divide or transplant you know that its fibrous and deep root system would hold back the steepest slope!

drooping inflorescences and compressed spikelets

I appreciate its year round beauty...flaws and all.

The Particulars

Botanical name: Chasmanthium latifolium
Common Name: river oats, inland oats
Type: Ornamental grass, River Oats is a perennial cool season grass, but it's seed is dispersed in the fall like a warm season grass.
Family: Poaceae
Native Range: Eastern United States, northern Mexico
Zone: 3 to 8
Size: 2.00 to 5.00 feet height by 1.00 to 2.50 feet spread
Bloom Time: August to September~seedheads last until late winter in middle Tennessee
Bloom Description: Green,  compressed spikelets, turn golden as they mature

Sun: Full sun to part shade

River oats behind the bird bath with Solidago, Amsonia and false dragonhead

Water: Medium to wet; more water if planted in full sun. It's happy in my garden near the birdbath where it gets a good soaking while I fill the bath or when the birds visit. 
Suggested Use: Naturalize, stream banks, dry forests, slope stabilization,

let river oats duke it out with False dragonhead

Companion plants: Wildflowers, Phlox, Itea virginica, the ex-asters, false dragonhead
Flower: Showy seedheads year round
Tolerate: Black Walnut, wet soil, deer do not browse
Pollinated by wind
Wildlife value: larval host for several skipper butterflies. The seeds are eaten by small mammals and birds, and the stems and leaves are used as nesting material by birds.
Comments: When happy, it is a rampant self seeder and requires vigilance to catch the seedlings. I would recommend with reservations to gardeners who want their plants to behave.

Only you can decide if there are more pluses than minuses! You'll be happy with Chasmanthium latifolium  if you can accept its one flaw~vigorous reseeding! Good looking foliage and nodding seedheads that flutter and rustle in the slightest breeze, while providing shelter and food for visiting birds, mammals and insects, more than make up for having to weed out unwanted seedlings!

Happy Wildflower Wednesday.
xoxogail

Welcome to Wildflower Wednesday where we come together to celebrate wildflowers from all over this great big beautiful world. It doesn't matter if we sometimes show the same plants, how they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most. I hope you join the celebration...It's always the fourth Wednesday of the month!


Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

Wordless Wednesday: The Autumn Dance Begins

Physostegia virginiana/False Dragonhead and Chasmanthium latifolium/River Oats,

When you let two rough and tumble wildflowers duke it out in the garden, they make beautiful music together.

xoxogail

Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone. She reminds all that the words and images are the property of the author and cannot be used without written permission.

It's Mid December and You know What That Means!

A Twofer! Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and Foliage Follow-Up!

Alas, there is only one bloom in the garden for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day and I have had to resort to sharing my beautiful grocery store tulips with you all.

 Cut flowers are wonderful and necessary on gray and rainy winter days.  The kind of weather we have too frequently in Middle Tennessee.

I love orange tulips, especially, the over the top multi-colored varieties.  I plant a few in the garden every fall and cross my fingers that they survive the rodents to bloom in the spring. I must admit that it has only been in the last few years have I come to appreciate this intense and vibrant color.

Spirea's orange and golden leaves in a cobalt container

  I know it's an over used word, but, orange does pop almost anywhere in my garden.  It cozies up  beautifully in containers and it looks stunning with the purple benches and chairs that are focal points at Clay and Limestone. 

If you don't mind plants arrayed in shades of brown, red, orange and beige, you'll find plenty of beauty in the garden! 

 Like Hypericum frondosum which is still  hyper-colored. 

 Or, the wispy and fluttery River Oats.  Rain makes them stand out.

 I love the wild and natural look of my almost winter garden (I garden for wildlife) Seed heads are left standing for winter interest and food for birds and other critters. I think they're beautiful.

Switch Grass (click for link)

Grasses like Panicum virgatum 'Northwind' add movement and color until late winter.  But, they're more than just a pretty face; they're  a host plant for the caterpillars of many Skippers (here for their story) and provide a cozy place for small critters and birds to hide on snowy days.

I love when trees and plants hold onto their leaves. 

Exotic cabbage and kale no longer seems out of place in the garden. Come spring they'll bolt into yellow blooms and provide  nectar for early visiting pollinators. (Cabbages and Beautiful Things)

I appreciate the cool  architectural statement Yucca makes year round.  I knew they attracted a special moth to pollinate them, but, I didn't know that they provide a cool respite for insects to hide  during the hot weather.

Although, my garden is mostly natives, I flipped for Spiraea thunbergii ‘Ogon'.  Take a look at its wispy leaved, golden late fall color and then add to that, very early blooming, honey scented flowers covered with bees and you'll totally understand how come this exotic made the cut.   I had hoped it would be dressed in its fall colors when the asters were blooming, but, I believe I appreciate this late color even more.

Last year my mettle was tested

The flowers may be gone for the season,  but, a gardener can enjoy cut flowers in the house and textures, foliage, colors and art in a garden year round.


xxoogail


PS Now, please pop over to May Dreams Gardens, where our delightful hostess, Carol,  has set up the Mr Linky magic carpet ride  to more Bloom Day posts than you can imagine.   After that, make sure to stop by Digging to see Foliage Follow-Up. Pam says it’s a way to remind ourselves of the importance of foliage in the garden.

* magic carpet clip art
Gail Eichelberger is a gardener and therapist in Middle Tennessee. She loves wildflowers and native plants and thoroughly enjoys writing about the ones she grows at Clay and Limestone."